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Austin Aries

I've been trying to catch up on Impact a bit lately, just to see how they are getting on. Generally speaking I think the show is in better hands now, even if the actual direction of some of the angles really isn't for me. The sense is there that they know how to make things look a bit cooler than they used to, in terms of the production. There's still some issues there when they cut away from videos and get to the ring, but I digress.

But anyway, I was starting the thread because one of the things I did really enjoy was Aries addressing the roster after losing the title at Redemption. I thought this was well shot, and that Aries played it very well with his whole 'I'm not making excuses...' while making about a million excuses.

I'm a big fan of Aries pretty much all around, I think he has some classic matches in the 00s but my favorite stuff he's done so far has been in this decade. His run up to his first TNA title win was phenomenal and coincides with some of the best stuff TNA ever did, particularly his rivalry, and later partnership, with Bobby Roode. I get (to a point) why WWE didn't do more with him, and I think overall he was smart to get out when he did, as he's a guy who has no trouble getting lots of attention anywhere he goes. Bringing him back to Impact was a good sign and helped make up for some of the notable guys who have left recently. Though he's still going strong at 40, I wasn't sure he was a great choice for champion, and I think they made a great choice having him drop to Pentagon, and that's all I'll say about that for now.

Yup, I'm right here rejoicing! Never liked the belt at all. Bring back the TV title and weekly defenses!

I'm not sure how I feel about Aries in 2018, after having watched a bit more of him. He still brings a lot to the table but he is definitely starting to feel like he belongs to an earlier generation. Not sure if it's just his age or if spending time in WWE caused the indy scene to pass him by or what. Still a big fan, but starting to think they really need to move that title off him.

So it appears Austin Aries may have went off book and walked out of Impact last night. Taking the loss to Johnny Impact, he no-sold the finish, got up and said something towards Don Callis, flipped off the crowd and left. Now whether this was a work, shoot or a little of both, it does appear that Aries has once again made himself out to be a giant prick.

So it appears Austin Aries may have went off book and walked out of Impact last night. Taking the loss to Johnny Impact, he no-sold the finish, got up and said something towards Don Callis, flipped off the crowd and left. Now whether this was a work, shoot or a little of both, it does appear that Aries has once again made himself out to be a giant prick.

I mean, if it's a work then Aries is just doing his job. There's plenty of examples that make him look like a giant prick but if this is all storyline then I'm not sure we can say this is one of them.

I'm pretty sure this is a work by the way, mostly because of everything leading into this match with Aries and Mundo beefing on Twitter (with Aries bringing Taya into the mix). Johnny and Taya aren't new to this; they did a worked shoot angle with Vampiro in AAA not too long ago that was so realistic that most people still think it was real (despite a key vignette being filmed that revealed the whole thing was a work to set up Vamp-Johnny and to write Taya, who was legit disgruntled with AAA, out). This reeks of the same thing and Aries doing what he did afterwards just plays into it. Now whether it's a good idea or not can be debated (the AAA thing ultimately went nowhere) but it definitely seems like a work to me, much like this silly Elite-Tama Tonga-WWE thing is.

On the one hand, they cut the camera off of AA really quick. On the other, it did linger on him just long enough to make it newsworthy.

I'm inclined to believe that it's a work, because if you see it on TV it's usually a work. You have producers and can cut to other shots. It's a little more complicated with Impact, just because WWE's got like 3,000 cameras roaming the arena to cut to, while Impact has a hard cam and two roaming, I believe. So if there's no shot that doesn't have a clear view of Aries, there isn't much that you can do.

There are reports that Impact is trying a Loose Cannon gimmick with Aries and that he will return at some point. We'll see but I'd still bank on it. The whole thing has felt like a work from the start and I'm surprised so many people are buying it.

The value of it is that they're trying to play it off as being real. I understand that we've all seen everything and we're all jaded, and I'm not super high on the no-sell "wrestling is a work" stuff, but the effort is to make it look real and like these two genuinely dislike one another, and I can really appreciate that. Personal issues sell, and in this day and age they're trying to get across that what started as a "pro wrestling angle" has turned into two guys hating one another.

I like the idea of the angle, I like the breaking the fourth wall stuff and the TMZ stuff and the press conference stuff to an extent. I think that there's a better way of going about it, something where they're booked in a title match and have no problem with one another (it's just going to be a good match and the best man will win) until Johnny makes an offhand comment that Aries takes personally, Aries fires back with a shot as his wife, they go on TMZ, you do the brawl at the press conference and then on the night of the two go in and stiff the shit out of one another so it looks like these dudes are trying to hurt one another.

Strip off the parts about not "trusting" management but keep the parts of the promo where he talks about Johnny being more interested in B movies and reality shows than pro wrestling but he's still the company's golden child. Have Aries continue to sell after the match, and flip off Callis and ask him if he's happy now that "his boy" won the belt. Still have him flip off the crowd and storm out, but sell while he's doing it.

You can still have the announcers subtly sell the idea that he's gone "off script", complete with Johnny looking confused and pissed in the ring, without coming right out and saying it. Have Callis break character and talk about how Aries is so unsportsman like and can't handle not being "the man" and runs off from every promotion he's in the moment he's beaten for that top spot and how disgusted he is with Aries.

My only issue with the angle is the "wrestling is fake, this is real" stuff. I think that an angle that uses TMZ and real life and makes it look like they genuinely hate one another can draw and make a lot of money.

I'm not so sure it's a good work but it is, at least from where I stand, a work. Obviously Aries being a real life dick does give one cause to pause, but everything about this feels worky. For one, it plays right into the fact that Aries is this kind of asshole. Second, Impact has already been toying with these types of angles throughout the year. The Sami Callihan-Eddie Edwards feud was built on people buying that Callihan legitimately had no remorse for injuring Edwards and Impact just let it grow from there.

But the most telling thing that this is all a work is that a) this all sprang up in the last week and b) it involves Johnny and Taya. I cannot have been the only one who wasn't a fan of Johnny-Aries as the Bound for Glory main event. They had spent a lot of time clearly building up to Edwards going after Johnny, and then all of sudden Moose turned on Eddie and the very next week Johnny was suddenly the challenger. There wasn't a lot going on with that angle, until this past week where suddenly things got personal on Twitter and everyone started to pay attention. That sort of thing tells me they knew this feud needed more heat and they had Aries say "controversial" things to drum up interest. And Johnny and Taya went a long with it because, well, they're no stranger to this. As I alluded to earlier, last year they were involved in an AAA angle where Vampiro stripped Taya of the Reina de Reinas belt out of nowhere, which seemingly caused real heat to develop between Taya and AAA that led to her departure. While she definitely did have issues with them, a backstage vignette later aired that showed Vamp and Mundo arguing about Taya being stripped, one that was filmed before she was actually stripped. It was all a work to write her off from AAA and start a Vamp-Mundo angle. This sort of thing plays right into their wheelhouse and is something they'd definitely be involved in.

So yeah; I'm pretty sure this is a work. Is it a good work? Not from what I can tell. Maybe Impact finds a way to effectively make Aries the Brian Pillman of 2018 but frankly it all just kind of seems over the top and feels like an angle that's working a locker room (one that finally is getting its morale back up after years of being in the toilet) for no reason. It doesn't help either that the work AAA did with Johnny and Taya ultimately went nowhere itself; there's just too many factors and moving parts going on for that to generally come across well. So while I do believe this is a work, I'm very puzzled as to why they did it. It makes you kind of hope this was something legit that happened and that Impact can just move forward with the legit good thing they've had going this year.

I agree with you Coach insofar as I think with a few tweaks this could have been much more effective, but as it stands the whole "well this used to be fake but now it's REALLY REAL~!!" thing is 1000 times more flow breaking for me than a goofy comedy match!

I'm with Cult that it's likely a work anyway, but not one that is going to do them much good. Pillman only worked because nobody had ever done anything like that at the time.

As I alluded to earlier, last year they were involved in an AAA angle where Vampiro stripped Taya of the Reina de Reinas belt out of nowhere, which seemingly caused real heat to develop between Taya and AAA that led to her departure. While she definitely did have issues with them, a backstage vignette later aired that showed Vamp and Mundo arguing about Taya being stripped, one that was filmed before she was actually stripped. It was all a work to write her off from AAA and start a Vamp-Mundo angle. This sort of thing plays right into their wheelhouse and is something they'd definitely be involved in.

I take absolutely no issue with you not liking it, let's get that out of the way first. The thing is that to you, this isn't a good work because you've seen it before and you know it's something that they'd do. But you're immersed. I don't follow AAA, had no idea about that angle and at first glance was wondering what the hell was up -- then the jaded part of me kicked in and I figured "if it's on TV, it's a work".

But a lot of people believe it. It has nothing to do with whether or not they're "smart" fans, and a lot to do with the fact that they saw the press conference and TMZ and match videos, but don't care to follow everything happening everywhere or analyze the internal backstage politics. This is an angle for those people, the ones who are smart enough to know it's a work, but not so immersed so as to be following everything. And I, personally, think that is the audience that Impact should be targeting.

That's really what it sounds like. I've seen reports that some people within the company are thinking this as well. Why would any wrestling company in this day and age want to go Full Russo again? You'd think that after those in charge of wrestling promotions would have learned by now.